


I Like, I Like, I Like

by mezzosaka



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, infinity zine piece
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-04-04 09:50:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14017638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mezzosaka/pseuds/mezzosaka
Summary: And sure enough, Kaoru was there. He leaned against the edge, looking off somewhere. The courtyard, perhaps? Souma thought he looked… sad. He just had the slightest frown on his face, and his eyes looked like his mind was somewhere far beyond the courtyard. If Souma were closer, he might have been able to tell if Kaoru had been crying or not.Souma felt a strange sort of pity then and there, and he decided that he could let Kaoru off the hook just this once. He stood there for a moment, wondering if he should try to approach him. Kaoru turned, slightly, and Souma stepped back.It would have to wait.





	I Like, I Like, I Like

**Author's Note:**

> this is my entry for the [infinity rarepair zine!](https://bulletd.art) it was an honor to be chosen to write for these two. i love them endlessly. i hope you enjoy reading this as much as i enjoyed writing this!

Souma huffed. The minutes just kept passing by, and it turned into yet another lunchtime club meeting where one-third of the club didn’t even bother to show up. The Marine Biology club was just better with three people. The glow of the aquariums in the rather dark room felt mystical when one was alone, comfortable with three people, yet strangely lonely with only two.

And as much as Souma respected him, it was a bit awkward to talk to Kanata. The only thing they seemed to have in common was school and marine life, and Souma exhausted those topics all the other times Kaoru skipped. When Kaoru was around, it was so easy to slip into a squabble and have Kanata solve everything. Kaoru brought better conversation topics, too. Souma hated him already, but he hated him more for excelling somewhere Souma still hadn’t quite succeeded yet.

Souma huffed again and crossed his arms and slid down in his seat and _pouted_ at just the thought of Kaoru. What a waste! A waste of talent in someone who has no dedication whatsoever, except to frivolous things like girls and perfume! Truly disgraceful, _truly—_

“Are you ‘talking’ to ‘yourself’ again?” Kanata asked, not even turning from the tank he was fixated on.

Souma covered up his mouth with his hands. “I apologize! I did not realize I was—” He uncovered his mouth, realizing that Kanata probably couldn’t understand through all the muffledness. “I did not realize that I was actually speaking.”

“Hm… Kaoru tends to spend his ‘lunchtime’ all ‘alone,’” Kanata said, entirely ignoring Souma’s apology.

“Alone?” Souma echoed. “Ha! He may say that, but that disgrace is likely frolicking around with girls. You are no fool, Shinkai-dono, but that fool is trying to make a fool of you! I’ll find him at once and punish him!”

Kanata tilted his head, but made no attempt to stop the boy as he stood up and valiantly grabbed his sword. Souma hesitated for a moment, wondering if it would technically count as skipping if he was just retrieving a skipping member.

“Souma… ‘kill’ people with ‘kindness.'”

Well, Kanata didn’t say anything _against_ his leaving, so it must be okay, and Souma had too much resolve to abandon his plan.

He left the room, his pace quick as he started towards… well, Souma didn’t really know where skippers were likely to go. Souma had never even _thought_ about skipping, not once in his life! He paused for a moment and observed his surroundings. There were a few students on their ways to wherever they needed to be, but no one looked quite malicious enough to possibly be a skipper. He tried to think of TV shows he’d seen before. He hadn’t seen many, but in the few school dramas he’s seen…

“Right!” Souma said, a little too loud considering he meant to only think it. He started off towards the roof. That’s the only place skippers could be. That’s the only place Kaoru could be.

And sure enough, Kaoru was there. He leaned against the edge, looking off somewhere. The courtyard, perhaps? Souma thought he looked… sad. He just had the slightest frown on his face, and his eyes looked like his mind was somewhere far beyond the courtyard. If Souma were closer, he might have been able to tell if Kaoru had been crying or not.

Souma felt a strange sort of pity then and there, and he decided that he could let Kaoru off the hook _just_ this once. He stood there for a moment, wondering if he should try to approach him. Kaoru turned, slightly, and Souma stepped back.

It would have to wait.

-—-

It had been a few days since Souma tried to find Kaoru. He felt a little odd about it; he’d seen something he shouldn’t have. But he felt a little more prepared now, _and_ he had proper permission from Kanata to miss a lunch meeting just this once.

He stepped out onto the roof. Kaoru was standing there, just like last time, staring off into the same faraway place. Souma gripped the extra bento he packed and stepped forward.

_Kill him with kindness… I’ll destroy that disgrace with kindness!_

“What a surprise! It’s Soumakyun here to visit me,” Kaoru said. He was smiling, yet he still looked different.

He held out the bento. “Don’t skip lunch!”

Kaoru tilted his head but took it anyway. He kept staring at Souma for a few seconds before slowly opening the bento. He smelled it—

“Do you truly think I would poison you?” Souma snapped.

“Hey, you never know.” Kaoru laughed, and Souma, for some reason, felt relieved.

He felt like he shouldn’t, but at the same time… At the same time, it felt a little bit like a break of _normal_ from the strange surrealism that was the school roof. Like Kaoru was returning to his usual disgraceful self.

They stared at each other for a second before Kaoru broke into a smile.

“I can’t believe Yumenosaki’s very own Soumakyun has a super cute laugh!”

Souma felt heat in his cheeks flare up, and he couldn’t take it anymore. He turned on his heel and left maybe a little quicker than would be polite, but he couldn’t deal with Kaoru teasing him like that! It was just plain odd!

He ran all the way back to the clubroom, but not even Kanata was in there. That was okay; Souma needed to just be alone for a little bit.

-—-

Souma was on the roof again the next day and the next and the next until it became his new lunch plan. Kaoru wasn’t _that_ terrible to talk to, Souma had found, and it felt nice talking to someone new. He was usually able to gather a lot of information about his friends just by listening, but just listening to Kaoru didn’t really give Souma anything. Most of Kaoru’s conversations were just barely scratching the surface, and he never seemed to talk much about himself. All Souma knew, even after the past few weeks, was that Kaoru had a sister, and he went to the beach for reasons other than picking up girls, and he didn’t _just_ skip club meetings; he skipped practice, too.

Kaoru was about to start talking again when Souma huffed and interrupted.

“You know all about me by now! Why don’t I get to learn about you?” Souma asked. “I was thinking about you, but I don’t know anything about what you like!”

“What I like?” Kaoru smirked. ”Ah, but you were thinking about me.”

“Don’t change the subject!” Souma’s sword was on the ground just out of reach yet he still felt like grabbing it.

“Hm…” Kaoru leaned back against the wall they were both sitting along. He usually sat a little more forward, but like this, Souma could just barely catch the scent of Kaoru’s cologne. “That’s enough for me.”

“What?”

“You thought of me. I like that, so keep thinking of me.”

Souma’s breath caught in his throat. It felt a little strange being told that, and Souma just couldn’t place the feeling. It wasn’t hard for him to keep thinking of Kaoru anyway! Lately, Kaoru’s been at the forefront of Souma’s mind, and not even in the sense he usually was—or at least usually used to be. He used to wonder what Kaoru was doing and why he wasn’t at club meetings, and now he wonders those same things, but it’s different, and he just doesn’t know _how_.

“I have to go!” Souma stood up, gathering his things. “I… I will see you tomorrow.”

Kaoru looked a little confused but made no move to stop him. “Oh. See ya.”

Souma was at the door, hand on the knob, when he hesitated.

“Souma,” Kaoru said.

He turned.

“I like pancakes. With lots of whipped cream on them.” Kaoru was standing, too. “I think that people who are too strict are the cause of their own stress. My favorite color’s blue ‘cause it reminds me of the ocean, and all the best flavors of candy are blue. I like things that are hard around the edges and soft on the inside. And I like it when you think of me.”

“I like thinking of you,” Souma blurted, and he felt that _awful_ burning sensation spread all over his face again, and before he knew it he was slamming the roof door behind him and running down the stairs.

_What’s happening to me?_

-—-

Souma was at their spot before Kaoru was, which was a first.

He really thought that he’d get nervous, thinking of his last statement yesterday, but he felt surprisingly calm. It was embarrassing saying something like that, but it wasn’t like he was lying or anything.

The door opened, and Kaoru looked surprised to see Souma already standing there. He walked over and sat next to him, and Souma gave him his bento just like usual. It was like nothing was different, but neither of them were saying anything.

“I thought you—”

“I apologize for—”

They both stopped, but Kaoru laughed. “You first.”

“I apologize for running out so suddenly yesterday,” Souma said. He looked away from Kaoru, poking at his food. “That was quite rude of me.”

“It’s fine. Kinda cute.” Kaoru held his breath for a second before continuing. “I thought you wouldn’t come today. I thought I made you upset or something.”

“What? Of course not!”

“That’s good then.”

There was quiet again, but it was more comfortable this time. Kaoru sat a little closer to Souma this time, his arm brushing Souma’s as he moved. Souma… liked it, really. He didn’t think he would ever want to be so close to someone like Kaoru, but it was strangely comfortable.

“What else do you want to know about me?” Kaoru asked, gently nudging Souma. “That stuff yesterday was just the first things that popped to my head. What do you _really_ want to know?”

Souma hummed, thinking for a moment. He thought what he got yesterday was quite sufficient, but if Kaoru was offering more, then Souma wasn’t going to waste the opportunity. Something he really wanted to know…

“Why do you not attend club meetings?” Souma finally asked. “You like the ocean and, I’m assuming, the things in it. Why not?”

“I really can’t lie to you, can’t I?” Kaoru looked away from Souma. “It’s those eyes.”

Souma blinked. His eyes? “Please answer. That is what I want to know.”

“It depends. Sometimes I go on dates with girls, but sometimes I just don’t want to,” Kaoru said. He made his answer seem so simple, but it only made Souma want to ask so many more questions. “It’s complicated.”

Souma studied Kaoru’s face. He wore that far off look again. Souma couldn’t help himself; he grabbed Kaoru’s face in his hands and turned it towards his own, staring straight into his eyes.

“How so? Tell me.” Souma really felt like he was going to die. He was much closer to Kaoru than he ever had been before, and his heart was beating so fast he thought it would completely explode. “I want to know everything, so tell me.”

Kaoru searched Souma’s face before carefully answering, “I skip so much, and sometimes I’m not doing anything. Like during lunch. So when I show up, I just feel out of place. It’s like that with everything. It makes me want to never show up again.”

“I want you to come. I like…” Souma took a deep breath. “I like practicing, and I like riding horses, and I like sea turtles. _My_ favorite color is green because it is the same as all the refreshing things in the world. And I like _you_.”

Souma bit his lip almost as soon as the words came out. He wanted to take everything back, no matter how true it was. He… He did like Kaoru, but he didn’t mean to say that. Kaoru liked girls. He got grossed out when guys got too close to him. But he wasn’t like that with Souma, somehow, so maybe… No! Souma couldn’t entertain the thought of having a chance. He let his hands fall from Kaoru’s face and leaned against the wall again. He wanted to leave, but he couldn’t bring himself to.

“I’m glad you do,” Kaoru said after an eternity of silence. “I really am. I thought you hated me.”

“I think you have misinterpreted—”

“No, I know how you meant it.” Kaoru pat Souma’s head. “And I’m saying I’m glad. It’s like that for me, too, but I was just afraid of saying it in case you would kill me or something. Ah, you’re so easy to talk to. I’m glad someone like you likes someone like me.”

“Someone like me?” Souma asked, and it was the only thing he could think to say. He was so overcome with relief that his emotions weren’t completely one-sided that he couldn’t react to anything else.

“You know! A good boy with good intentions who always does the right thing. Like sit with someone at lunch every day even if that person is really bad and doesn’t go to club meetings or practice.” Kaoru laughed. “But you haven’t been going to club meetings either.”

Souma’s eyes widened. Kaoru was right! Souma hadn’t been asking Kanata for permission in _weeks_! Now he was the one skipping, and Kanata must be all alone.

“I—You’re right—” Souma stammered, scrambling to get up. “I have to—”

Kaoru grabbed Souma’s arm, and Souma froze. “Why don’t you just stay for the rest of lunch today? After all, it’s good to be bad every once in a while.”

Souma slowly sat back down.  He guessed Kaoru was right. Kaoru seemed to be right a lot lately.

Apologizing to Kanata would have to wait a while. At least until after school.

-—-

Souma couldn’t stop bowing. “I apologize! Truly! Deeply! So much that I cannot even express it in words! If it would please you, I will even commit seppuku—”

“Oh, don’t do that,” Kaoru said, stopping Souma from his incessant bowing. “You’ve been apologizing for five minutes straight; I think he gets it.”

“Hmm…” Kanata put his hand on his chin, looking between the two. “No ‘punishment’ for Souma.”

“Really?” Souma asked. “Oh, I cannot thank you enough, President-dono! Truly! Deeply! So much—”

“That’s ‘enough,’” Kanata said. “You brought our ‘precious’ Kaoru back. That’s worthy of ‘praise.’ Pat pat!”

Souma closed his eyes, trying to memorize every single moment of getting a head pat from Kanata. The day just kept getting better, and now, with a club meeting about to begin, Souma was almost convinced that it was going to be the best day of his life.

No, with Kaoru’s arm around his shoulder, he was sure of it.

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on [twitter!](twitter.com/mezzosaka) thank you so much for reading!


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